Tangerine Dream – Quantum

I must admit, I haven’t really been listening to a lot to Tangerine Dream. But ever since Ulrich Schnauss, the Austrian electro-gaze wizard, joined forces with the band, my interest has been awakened. So this is a review seen from a total newcomer to Tangerine Dream.

I have listened to some of the music from Tangerine Dream before and always thought of them, as something in between Jean Michel Jarre, Vangelis, and Kraftwerk.

Listening to Quantum Gate keeps me in that belief, however, Tangerine Dream is way more ambient and repetitive, than both aforementioned acts. Quantum Gate is very calm, with loads of details and at all times a certain drive, that keeps the record going as a steady train, towards a sunrise on a planet nearby.

Kind of ironic to start here, where the founding member Edgar Froese has passed away and for the time isn’t around when a Tangerine Dream album is released. However, he is credited for most of the songs on Quantum Gate. For me this is quite an opener, that invites me to dive into the massive back catalog of Tangerine Dream, I really don’t know where to start. So guess I am going to have to take a random song ride, down memory lane, on Spotify, and see if I can find some gems, that invites for a full listen of specific albums.

It’s for sure, that I’m going to listen more to Quantum Gate. It’s kind of like a movie soundtrack, kind of a game soundtrack and then kind of an ambient album. Part of the reference to game music is that most songs are upbeat, without having a real feeling of a beat. Only Time To Leave has a bit more disco feeling to it, and also reminds me most of Ulrich Schnauss solo work. This song is danceable, lush and has some of that electro-gaze vibe that you know from Schnauss Albums Far Away Trains Passing By. Even the drum programming is pretty close.

I still think that Tangerine Dream is something in between Jean Michel Jarre, Vangelis and Kraftwerk, more the former than the latter. Especially on a song like Proton Bonfire, I am hearing Jean Michel Jarre Oxygene era music.

My favorite track is definitely Only Time To Leave, it has just such a cool vibe and textures of sound that plays along with the cool beat.